John Mariani Lets the Air Out of the Michelin Guide

Oh boy: Over on Esquire’s Eat Like a Man blog, noted friend of Grub Street John Mariani takes a look at the just-released results of this year’s Michelin Guide. And he doesn’t like what he sees. He calls out lots of stuff: the Guide’s antiquated explanation of what its stars mean (two stars is “’worth a detour’ — from where?”); both the Frenchy homogeneity of the Guide’s three-star places and the “mixed bag” that is the Guide’s one-star picks; the fact that the Guide willfully disregards a chef’s presence in his or her own restaurant; and of course the continued inclusion of Gordon Ramsay at the London. (We might agree with him on that last point.) But not to fear! He also tells us that he’ll break out his list of the country’s best restaurants next week. And then we’ll finally be able to stop this silly bickering. [Eat Like a Man/Esquire]